


Three's Company

by sharpiesgal (TigerLily)



Category: Captain America, Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: M/M, Multi, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-22
Updated: 2012-12-22
Packaged: 2017-11-22 00:06:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/603571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerLily/pseuds/sharpiesgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony, Steve and Bruce have feelings for each other. They decided to try being a threesome. This is story is how that comes about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three's Company

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cluegirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cluegirl/gifts).



> Written for cluegirl as part of the Avengers Exchange 2012 over at Live Journal.
> 
> This story had a mind of its own from beginning to end, so I hope you enjoy it.

Steve rode the elevator up to the last research and development floor of Stark Tower balancing three large pizza boxes in his hands knowing that he would find Tony and Bruce holed up there working on one of the many ideas that bounced around Tony’s head at any given moment in time.

The image that thought brought to mind was of two mismatched bookends trying to remake the world to their standards before breakfast, and Steve had to laugh. It reminded him of a conversation he had had with Clint where the archer compared Tony and Bruce to a pair of animated lab rats who spent each episode of their show trying to take over the world.

The elevator dinged and the door opened allowing Steve to walk into the lab with his precious cargo. “Lunchtime, fellas,” he called out so as not to scare the two dark haired scientists who had their heads together as they manipulated a small hologram floating in the middle of the lab.

“What did you get, sweet cheeks?” Tony asked with a hint of childish glee in his voice. He didn’t bother to look away from the hologram he and Bruce had been working with for the better part of an hour.

It was beginning to annoy him since he couldn’t figure out where in their calculations they had gone wrong, so Tony was happy for the distraction.

“The usual, sugar plum,” Steve cryptically answered having come to the conclusion after weeks of living with Tony Stark that the only way to stop the flow of tacky nicknames was to beat the other man at his own game.

He set the pizza boxes down on the only clean spot on Tony’s workbench. He set his satchel down before he grabbed a soda from the small fridge under the bench. He opened it and down half of it since he had worked up a thirst walking from their favorite pizza parlor.

“That can mean a lot of things, honey bunch,” Tony prompted with a smirk. He stepped away from the hologram letting Bruce take control of it. He walked over to the workbench and leaned in to savor the smells emanating from the boxes.

“Yes, it could, doodle bug,” Steve retorted with a smirk of his own.

Bruce rolled his eyes and removed his glasses placing them in his shirt pocket before closing the hologram down. He too was getting annoyed with it and he could hear the Other Guy rumble something about stupid math and why couldn’t Bruce just let him smash it.

“If you two are going to be sickeningly sweet, I’m taking my pizza and going elsewhere,” he said as he picked up the top box that was labeled vegetarian on the side. He really didn’t have a problem with Tony and Steve being openly affectionate in his presence since it was better than their earlier bickering, but their tacky nicknames war had gone on so long that even he was becoming irritated with it.

“Okay, no cutesy nicknames for the duration of lunch,” Tony quickly declared placing a hand on Bruce’s arm to stop him from leaving.

Bruce gave Tony a skeptical look.

“I promise,” Tony said as he dropped his hand from Bruce’s arm.

“You promise?” Bruce set his box back down on the workbench. He opened it and reached in for a slice.

“I’ll even pinky swear on a stack of bibles,” Tony joked in an attempt to get Bruce to laugh. 

This caused Steve to shake his head and chuckle. “I doubt that will be necessary, right, Bruce?”

“A simple yes would have sufficed, Tony,” Bruce quietly huffed between bites.

“Bruce, babe, you know I don’t do simple.”

“Yes, Tony, I know,” Bruce softly sighed refraining from looking at the ceiling for help since he knew there would be no help coming from that quarter. He settled on a stool and allowed Tony to hand him another slice.

* & * & *

Once lunch was finished, Bruce helped Steve clear away the pizza boxes and soda cans while Tony picked up his tablet to poke at another half-finished project.

“You know he wants to ask you out,” Bruce quietly told Steve as the other man pulled out a sketch pad and a handful of pencils from his satchel.

“I guessed as much,” Steve admitted setting his supplies on the architect’s desk that had recently appeared in the lab. He knew Tony had had installed so Steve could sketch without giving himself a crick in the neck like he had been doing of late.

“You could always ask him out.”

“I thought about it, but I didn’t want to step on your toes.”

“How would that be stepping on my toes?”

“You’ve got feelings for Tony and I can tell he has feelings for you.”

“I can’t act on those feelings and it wouldn’t be fair to Tony to deny him an opportunity with someone else,” Bruce quietly explained.

“Are you afraid the Other Guy will show up and unintentionally hurt Tony?” Steve inquired. He never liked how Bruce referred to the Hulk as the Other Guy, but wisely kept that thought to himself.

“It’s a possibility,” Bruce quietly admitted. “And it’s a risk I’m not willing to take.”

“Tony would be the last person the Other Guy would hurt since he was the first person to treat you like a normal human being and not as some monster.”

Bruce rewarded that observation with an arched eyebrow.

“Well, close to normal as Tony can get,” Steve sheepishly remarked.

Bruce chuckled. Normal for Tony was to poke and prod at something or someone until his curiosity was satisfied, and Bruce was grateful Tony had left the little electric prod back on the helicarrier.

“So what are you two whispering about?” Tony inquired as he walked up behind them and draped his arms around their shoulders. He couldn’t focus on any project because science became boring when he was around his two favorite people.

“I was trying to convince Steve to ask you out since you won’t do it yourself,” Bruce explained.

“And, I told Bruce that I couldn’t because I didn’t want to take you away from him,” Steve said knowing his explanation was weak sounding.

Tony softly sighed and dropped his arms. He snatched one of Steve’s pencils and began fiddling with it.

He enjoyed spending time with Bruce and Steve, even though that hadn’t been the case when the other two men had first moved into the Tower. He had been trying to get over breaking up with Pepper, so had been a bit of an asshole. “I like spending time with both of you.”

“We like spending time with you,” Bruce said speaking for Steve as well as himself.

“Instead of making all of us miserable, why don’t we try a threesome?” Tony found himself suggesting because he would be the first one to admit that he wasn’t good at make life-changing decisions. It was the main reason he had turned over the day to day running of Stark Industries to Pepper.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Tony,” Bruce remarked. Deep down he wanted to try Tony’s idea and the Other Guy rumbled in agreement, but he decided that he needed to be the voice of reason.

“Good idea or not, I would like to try,” Tony declared tossing the stolen pencil back onto the architect’s desk.

“I think I would like to try as well,” Steve contributed. He felt more at ease when he was spending time in the lab because of how accepting both Bruce and Tony were.

“Really?” Tony asked knowing he sounded skeptical when in fact Steve had just surprised the hell out of him. He thought Steve was too grounded in his old-fashioned ideas to be accepting of an alternative lifestyle.

Instead of answering, Steve caught hold of Tony by the shoulders pulling him in for a first, brief kiss since he knew Tony was more of a man of action than of words.

Tony pulled away once the kiss ended licking his lips tasting pizza, soda and something that was uniquely Steve. He then turned to Bruce raising his hand to cup the other man’s face. “Is this alright?” he asked not wanting to take from Bruce something he wasn’t willing to give.

“Yes,” Bruce breathed and then Tony leaned in and softly kissed him.

Steve watched them kiss becoming aroused by the sight, but doing his best to ignore it. Sex would be nice, but first they needed to discuss how this relationship would work.

“You both are insane, you know that, right?” Bruce asked once Tony ended their kiss pretending he didn’t hear the Other Guy’s comments about what a good kisser Tony was.

“Sanity is highly over-rated,” Tony said trying hard not to giggle but failing miserably because he was overly tired.

Steve shook his head. “Be serious for once.”

“But all the serious people I know are so boring,” Tony complained with a whiny voice.

“We are going off on a tangent,” Bruce lightly chided.

Tony yawned before he could come up with another witty retort, which caused Steve to ask, “When was the last time you slept?”

“I don’t remember,” Tony answered. “J?”

“You’ve been awake almost a full day, sir,” Jarvis responded to Tony’s inquiry.

“What about you, Bruce?” Steve asked knowing that Bruce could be as bad as Tony when it came to spending too much time in the lab.

“Dr. Banner has been awake for over eighteen hours, Captain Rogers,” Jarvis answered before Bruce could.

“I distinctly remember you saying that you wouldn’t keep tabs on me if I moved in here,” Bruce growled more irritated than angry.

“Mea culpa,” Tony said in way of an apology.

“Ever heard of invasion of privacy?” Bruce countered.

It was Tony’s turn to be annoyed. “An outdated notion and the only reason I keep tabs on you and everyone else is because I care.”

“Still annoying, Tony,” Bruce sighed knowing Tony only meant well.

“Gotta love me,” Tony said throwing his hands in the air in a mock surrender.

“I think a nap is in order,” Steve broke in with the suggestion before the scientists could get sidetracked into a heated discussion about privacy laws. He knew it would never come to blows and that the lab was Hulk proof, but it was better to err on the side of caution.

“Only if you join us, Steve,” Tony supplied wondering if Steve was a cuddler or not.

“I doubt your futon would fit all three of us, Tony,” Bruce remarked nodding toward the battered piece of furniture in the far corner of the lab.

“I wasn’t thinking of napping there,” Tony explained. “I was thinking about napping on my nice, comfortable king size bed.”

“Sure you were,” Steve piped up.

“I don’t think about sex 24/7,” Tony groused and rolled his eyes. Clearly his sexual reputation continued to precede him, and this was one time that he didn’t want it to spoil a sexual encounter.

Bruce and Steve exchanged a look and then chuckled. “Of course you don’t,” Bruce said in an attempt to sooth Tony’s slightly bruised ego.

“I don’t,” Tony pouted. “So bed?”

“No hanky panky?”

“Is that a ‘40’s term for no kinky sex?”

“Tony!” Bruce admonished barely refraining from shaking a finger at him.

Tony shrugged, yawned again and then winced when he heard his jaw crack. “Alright, no hanky panky until I’ve had a couple hours of sleep.”

“That works for me,” Steve agreed. “Bruce?”

Bruce nodded and then herded the other two men from the lab letting Jarvis shut down things for him.

& * & * &

Steve woke later to find himself lying on his back in the middle of Tony’s bed. He was sandwiched between Bruce and Tony since neither man liked to be confined.

Bruce was curled into himself with his head half resting on Steve’s shoulder and one of the pillows on the bed. Tony, on the other hand, was curled into Steve’s side his head resting on Steve’s other shoulder with one of his hands covering the arc reactor while the other one was splayed over Steve’s abdomen.

Steve fondly smiled at them knowing that he was long past liking them and well onto loving them.

Bruce began to stir and Steve waited until he was awake to ask, “How did you sleep?”

“Better than I have in awhile,” Bruce admitted as he pulled himself to sit up and lean against the headboard.

“Good.”

“Tony?”

“I think he may still be asleep,” Steve hazard as he glance over at Tony who had rolled over onto his back.

“Not asleep since I can’t sleep on my back,” Tony contributed without opening his eyes. “Jarvis, what time is it?”

“It is eight pm, sir,” Jarvis answered.

“Well, that explains the rumbling I just heard.”

“This time it’s not me,” Steve stipulated with a grin. He knew that he and Bruce could put away a fair amount of food and still be hungry hours later since it was the nature of their altered metabolisms.

Bruce was tempted to roll his eyes, but restrained himself. “How about I go fix us some sandwiches and then we can discuss how we are going to make this relationship work?” he suggested moving to get out of bed.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Tony said nixing the idea to take them both out to dinner. He had to remind himself that Steve and Bruce were human beings and not trophies to parade around because he could. “I think I’m going to go take a quick shower.”

Steve watched the two men leave the room and for a brief second wondered if they were getting cold feet and didn’t know how to let him down gently, but Tony stuck his head back into the room and said, “You’re quite the catch, Cap, so don’t lay there and worry your pretty head about whether we’re going to throw you back or not.”

Steve sighed and shook his head. “You are a very perverse man, Tony.”

“Hey, I try,” Tony retorted and then disappeared back into the bathroom.

* & * & *

Bruce returned with a platter of sandwiches and a six pack of soda smiling when he found a fully dressed, but slightly damp looking Tony lounging on the bed. “Where’s Steve?”

“Taking a shower,” Tony answered looking up from the tablet he was toying with. “I think I figured out where we went wrong this morning.”

“That’s good,” Bruce said not remotely interested in what they had been working on earlier.

“Right,” Tony drawled picking up Bruce’s disinterest from his tone of voice and decided to change the subject. “You make any vegemite sandwiches?”

“There are a few in there.” Bruce set the platter down on the dresser along with the sodas. “I still don’t know how you can eat that stuff.”

“It’s an acquired taste.”

“What’s an acquired taste?” Steve asked walking into the room dressed in some of Tony's old clothes rubbing his hair dry with a towel which he then tossed back into the bathroom.

“Vegemite,” Bruce replied with a sour grimace.

Tony laughed and said, “And your peanut butter and mayonnaise is any better.”

Steve made a face and went, “Eww,” as he joined Tony on the bed. He had had to endure eating that combination as a kid because it had been one of Bucky’s favorites. “I’ll stick to peanut butter and jelly.”

“I made plenty of those as well,” Bruce answered Steve’s unasked question. “So carpet picnic?”

“Carpet picnic like in _Pretty Woman_?” Steve inquired hoping he got the cultural reference correct.

“He gets that cultural reference,” Tony dramatically groaned before he pulled Bruce onto the bed with them. “Isn’t that one of your top ten movies?”

“It might be,” Bruce hedged. He shifted on the bed so that he was sitting at the foot of the bed between Steve and Tony forming one point in their newly established triangle. He wasn’t going to admit that the last time Tony had to be away on a business trip that he and Steve had a romantic comedy marathon which had two master assassins begging for a long term undercover mission. “But the idea does have merit.”

“Yes,” Tony agreed. “But, I’m not in the mood for rug burn, so let’s have the picnic in bed.”

“You’re too comfortable to move, aren’t you?” Steve guessed as he stood to go collect the sandwiches and sodas.

“I plead the fifth.”

Bruce rolled his eyes before reaching out and ticking Tony’s left foot.

“Hey!” Tony whined as he jerked his foot back and glared at Bruce. “You’re going to pay for that!”

Steve quietly chuckled at them.

“I’d like to see you try,” Bruce retorted.

Tony powered down the tablet and sat it out of harm’s way on the night stand before he launched himself at Bruce managing to pin the other man to the bed his hands searching for all of Bruce’s ticklish spots.

Steve eventually pulled them apart when they both got to laughing so hard they forgot to breathe.

* & *

It was at Tony’s insistence that they watch movies instead of talking about how their relationship was going to work. He preferred to do that in the cold light of day since he wanted to spend the rest of the night enjoying food, cheesy movies and good company.

He didn’t want to fuck up this burgeoning relationship by overanalyzing it, but at the same time he knew they needed to keep the lines of communication open. He was reluctant to do so, because words had a tendency to fail him like they did when he and Pepper had been dating.

Steve and Bruce understood Tony’s reluctance to talk and didn’t push the issue because they had their own hang-ups when it came to being intimately involved with another person.

They snuggled together on the bed with Bruce resting in Steve’s arms and Tony resting in Bruce’s. 

They ended up falling asleep that way while on the TV Julia Roberts laughed at the antics of Lucy Ricardo.

Fin


End file.
